Tom Hartvigsen TMA112: March 2016

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Concerned Citizen

Artist Statement

In our reading for this week, activist Arlene Goldberg speaks of an idea called “storyland,” where she asserts the power of storytelling in shifting societal ideologies, beliefs, and the status quo. In Goldberg’s “storyland,” “we understand that the resilience that sustains communities in times of crisis is rooted in culture, in the stories of survival and social imagination that inspire people to a sense of hope and possibility even in dark times.” We as a team likewise were able observe our BYU culture and identify a director and group actively serving their fellowmen. However, our experience making this documentary is not limited to the time stamps, but rather created another story in which we can share with others and inspire.

At the start of this project, we realized how out-of-touch we were in terms of social change. Although each of us do small acts of service that are often ignored, we wanted to find someone who was a leader and organizer, as we felt society needs more individuals that are willing to raise up, commit, and guide others in service. For the first time in our BYU careers, we walked into the Y-Serve office in the Wilkenson and followed a trail of breadcrumbs to a vacant lot in the middle of Heber.

That cold Saturday morning, we came to know Johny Jacobs, director of BYU’s volunteer efforts for Rural Housing Development (RHD). RHD is a government-sponsored agency that helps homeless families secure financing for housing materials and, alongside them, help build their home. Johny became involved in the effort more than a year ago and volunteered to raise awareness and coordinate the efforts of BYU students in helping housing development. Johny goes up to work on houses every Saturday from 8 am – 12pm, usually with a different group every week as he recruits new volunteers. We came to see firsthand that, even in the Happy Valley, USA, there are those that are unable to have the pride of home ownership. Rather than ignore that homelessness is a real issue, which often can be the case in a cultural as prosperous as ours, Johny sacrifices his time to improve the lives of the poor.

In terms of our documentary, we wanted to emphasize the transformative processes occurring while Johny answered basic “what, why, and how” questions to give the sense of activity and progress. In a symbolic way, the processes that were transforming raw materials into a home were also transforming Johny and the volunteers’ personally. We sought inspiration from process piece documentaries, utilizing in particular the editing techniques seen in Smith Journal’s The Smokehouse. Much like that film, our short documentary juxtaposed actions with dialogue so there existed a sense of synergy between what was said the interview and building process. It allowed Johny’s words to have greater power, as we see an active application of his ideals towards a productive solution rather than some abstract rhetoric.

We do not know how many people will be inspired (or even watch) our short documentary. Even if it is ignored, we as a team have lived a story that is personally inspiring and motivates us to participate more actively in finding solutions to social issues.

Information about Rural Housing Development

https://yserve.byu.edu/programs/rural-housing-development

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

World Building

Artist Statement

“What if…” is often the beginning of a form of art called design fiction, a term coined by Julian Bleecker in his essay of the same name. What if the world was fundamentally different? What would it look like? H.G. Wells was a master in design fiction, particularly with his novel, The Time Machine, in which he describes the future state of mankind. It’s not real, but it follows real patterns and rules. It’s a fantasy world, but it has its roots in real science. So it is with design. Artifacts from these manufactured worlds both augment and represent a kind of parallel reality displayed in the world from which they come.

So what if? As students at Brigham Young University, we have a natural interest in our Mormon roots. At one point in history, a state of Deseret was proposed. It never happened because of issues with the U.S. government regarding polygamy, but what if? What if the South won the war? What if the Union was so fractured that they didn’t care about a burgeoning community far in the west? What if the Mormons pulled it off and gained sovereignty?

The 1860s would see a drastic change in the world when the South would end up winning the Civil War. The members in the state of Deseret would take this chance to seriously begin building their nation. Part of being a sovereign state meant they would need their own currency for the exchanging within its economy and government. This Currency would reflect the events of Mormon history and significance to the nation of Deseret as well as its prominent leaders.

“Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand.” - (Doctrine and Covenants 45:70)

In fulfillment of this prophecy, the people of Deseret would take a strong defensive stance during the conflicts throughout the 20th century. Though their ambassadors (i.e. missionaries) would still be sent out, they would also employ military force toward any country that sought harm to their congregations. The evolution of this thought might be expressed in a new flag. The twelve stars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, point inward toward deseret, a honeybee, the protector of the hive. The red field represents the blood of the righteous calling for justice. The flag is a symbol of the state’s fierce defense and retribution against any that dare to come against God’s people.

Many events of our world would still “come to pass” in this world. Hitler would still try to dominate the planet. But what if Einstein immigrated to Deseret? What if revelation was given to our military leaders just as Captain Moroni received it in the Book of Mormon? Deseret would emerge as a world power. We also read of the pride cycle in the Book of Mormon. If Deseret prospered for too long there would likely be much apostasy. Different factions of the faith would compete for power.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Webspinna Battle

Artist Statement

For the last couple of weeks I have had a hard time coming up with artistic ideas. This is manifested in the absence of posts for the last two assignments, Medium Specificity and Textual Poaching. I brainstormed for hours but could not think of anything. Perhaps my creativity has been constrained by mid-semester stress. I believe that stress is part of it but after this week’s discussions I can also see that perhaps I am not looking in the right areas to generate ideas.

In the reading “The Ecstasy of Influence,” John Lethem talks about how we all “plagiarize” as artists, or rather we are constantly borrowing ideas from others and adding upon them to create something of our own. He said, “Inspiration could be called inhaling the memory of an act never experienced. Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos. Any artist knows these truths, no matter how deeply he or she submerges that knowing.” In my brainstorming sessions I was doing the wrong thing. I just sat at my desk and was trying to create something out of the void. I should have been looking at other art for inspiration.

In addition to receiving inspiration from other’s works, we learned in class that inspiration also comes from limitations. Such limitations helped Pepe and I come up with the idea to do Napoleon vs. Pedro for the Webspinna Battle. Two days before we had to perform we still had no idea what we were going to do. We knew we had to dress up so one of us asked, “Well, what do we have for costumes?” Pepe said he has a couple of masks and some other things, and then I’m like, “I’m a poor college student, I barely have 5 t-shirts let alone anything for a costume.” Then inspiration struck. I wear my costume every day. I have an afro! I could be Napoleon Dynamite and Pepe could be Pedro. It would be the perfect combination. Hence the limitation of the requirement to wear a costume and the limitation of not having much for a costume turned into the inspiration for our entire project.

Obviously our idea was not only inspired by limitations, but as Lethem discussed in his article, we stole from something that already existed. Our duo could not exist if Jared Hess never came up with the idea for Napoleon Dynamite. It turns out that even Hess likely took the inspiration for Napoleon Dynamite (at least in the name) from another artist without being aware of it. Supposedly he met a Napoleon Dynamite on his mission. He did not realize that Napoleon Dynamite was already a stage nickname for Elvis Costello (http://www.mtv.com/news/1488386/napoleon-dynamite-director-inspired-by-his-own-mamas-llamas/). Of course, Hess also took much inspiration from his own life experiences. As artists, this is what we do, we take things and rearrange them into something new. If we don’t have our own experiences then we borrow them from someone else.